Connecticut's Quiet Life Hits the Road, But Not Before a Short Chat and a New Record

While it’s not uncommon for a band to tour in support of a newly released album, the New London, Conn-based Quiet Life are doing it a little more backwards than usual. This past Sunday, the quartet played a hometown, CD release show before they embarked on a cross country, 30 day tour that brings them to places like Austin, TX to crash South by Southwest (SXSW) and three separate shows in California before returning to the east coast with shows in Tennessee and North Carolina and finally wrapping up back home playing the Amity Teen Center in Woodbridge on April 4.

The reason things seem reversed for Quiet Life is the fact that the songs being released on their brand new album, Act Natural, have been recorded for almost two years, but haven’t been played live in nearly as long. The band has finally freed up enough to release and support this album before going back into the studio to lay down all the songs that they have written since then.


Edward Gaug: You are playing your CD release show tonight, is the official start of your tour?
Sean Spellman: We leave on Wednesday for the tour and we have a show in Pennsylvania that night. We just wanted to have the CD release party before we left and we thought this was the best place to do it and with the tour starting up, this is the time to do it.

Gaug: With a tour like this, how do you get ready to basically live in a band for two months?
Spellman: Actually it’s only one month, but we saved up a lot of money starting five months before it and we’ve been doing a lot of booking. We book all our own shows personally. We have to make sure that the van is working order and Febreeze the van. We have a lot of stuff going on right now; the CD is coming out on Tuesday and waiting for the tour, we just did some demos and were come back and work on a new record, so we have a lot of stuff to do.

Gaug: With this record was Safety [Meeting Records] in on it or did they come in later on?
Spellman: Carlos at Safety Meeting, we’ve been friends with him and were always in touch with him when we were making the record. After we finished it, we were trying to figure out what we were going to do it and he said, “I’d love to put it out, lets do it.” So that’s kind of how that happened.

Gaug: You guys are playing South by Southwest, that’s kind of a huge deal isn’t it?
Spellman: Yeah it is; were actually playing it “unofficially” though. We didn’t get in to it, we applied for it, but we knew we were going to get a spot but we said, “Fuck it, we have to go down there and crash it.” We have a couple friends down there that own bars and venues that are going to let us play any shows that we can get on, any day parties that are going on. Most shows aren’t really South by Southwest affiliated anyways; there are so many people down there. So far we have three shows and were going to try to book a few more when we get down there and just kind of hang.

Gaug: Are there any specific bands that you want to see while you’re down there?
Spellman: I really want to see Dr. Dog. Have you seen them before?

Gaug: I actually have, they played at Coney Island this summer with Cursive and Black Lips.
Spellman: Oh right, at Siren Fest. I’m really siked for the Park the Van [Dr. Dog’s label] show that’s being put on with Daytrotter. It’s Dr. Dog, Tulsa, The Teeth and Ra Ra Riot. They’re all real cool people, so I’m siked for that.


Gaug: With this album, was it different from something you might have done a year or two years ago?
Spellman: That record was actually recorded two years ago. Our new record that’s being released tonight was actually done two years ago. We have enough material for an entire new full length right now. It’s kind of weird. As of a month ago, we were playing any of the songs off of this new record live. We were playing all new material, so now we’ve been practicing older songs for when the record comes out, so we can play them again. It’s kind of funny how that works out. It just took us longer than we thought. New stuff sounds a little bit different than the old stuff.

Gaug: I was noticing that too, comparing what I heard on your MySpace compared to when I saw you at CCSU about a year ago. I don’t know if it is an actual difference or just different between live and recorded.
Spellman: I think that could be the case.

Gaug: One of the songs on Quiet Life’s MySpace, “Trying to Get Home,” I hate to use other band names when I talk about songs, but the first thing that popped into my head when I heard it was modern Bright Eyes, but as the song continues it definitely evolves into something completely different. Do you ever pull influence from bands you listened to growing up or even hear now?
Spellman: Definitely. Everything I hear personally effects the way I write songs and yeah, there was a point in time when I listened to a lot of Bright Eyes and I’m sure that’s had a huge effect on my songwriting. Bands like Wilco and Crazy Horse have done the same too. It’s funny to hear what you are compared to, people say “I hate to compare you to someone else, but…” I was talking to a reporter the other day and he brought up the Black Crows and Wilco and then he asked “Who’s cooler: Jeff Tweedy or Chris Robinson?” I don’t know, they’re both pretty cool. It’s flattering I guess.

Gaug: That’s kind of how music is though, I might hear something and five other people will hear something completely different.
Spellman: Nobody likes giving comparisons to their own art, but it’s a way to help people identify with it.